Virgin islands families

27 February 2014

She was buried on 26 September 1765 by the Priest from the Anglican Church, “at Mr. McEvoys S.S. [South Side], aged 69”. ²

1. i. James Lytton, c1702, buried 12 August 1769

2. ii. Margaret Lytton
1. James Lytton was born on Nevis, in about 1702.³

He was married in about 1730 to Ann Faucett, who was born on Nevis, daughter of John Faucett and his wife Mary.⁴

They left Nevis in 1737, after a particularly bad drought there, and came to St. Croix,⁵ where they purchased on 24 May 1738, no. 9, Company Quarter, later called estate Grange.⁶ Toward the end of 1738, there was a very bad hurricane on St. Croix, which must have affected them.⁷

He was praised by his peers on the island as a very hard sugar planter.⁸

Edward Evans, who was James Lytton’s brother in law, by his marriage to Margaret Lytton, left a will in 1744, when he died, naming James Lytton as the guardian of his children. ⁹

On 1 October 1748, James Lytton stood as a warrantor of the marriage, by the St. Croix Lutheran Pastor, of Isaac Evans to the widow Judith Cunningham.¹⁰ Isaac Evans was his nephew, i.e. sister’s son.

In 1764, James and Ann Lytton decided to sell their estates and enslaved people, and to return to their birthplace on Nevis to end their days. He sold both the estates and some of their enslaved people to a man from St. Eustatius named John Denn, who was to arrive shortly with his family. Denn paid 60,000 rd. and the agreement was signed on 3 December 1764.¹¹ Denn had the estate in 1765¹² and 1766.¹³

After the sale, James and Ann Lytton moved into Christiansted, where they rented James Booth’s house at 2 Market Street, and as of January 1765, they were living there with 21 enslaved people.¹⁴ Along with them was their granddaughter, Ann Lytton Venton (c1762/1762- ), who also lived at Market Street with two enslaved people. ¹⁵

Toward the end of 1765, James and Ann departed for Nevis. Neither they nor their granddaughter, Ann Lytton Venton, appeared in the 1766 tax list, which was recorded in January 1767.¹⁶

James Lytton returned to St. Croix sometime before January 1768, as he was living at that time in James Field’s widow’s house in Market Street; he was alone and without enslaved people.¹⁷ Ann (Faucett) Lytton apparently died during the trip, as she does not seem to be buried in the family's graveyard.¹⁸

By January 1768, James Lytton had moved to King’s Street, Christiansted, living in Sckott Laurence’s house, along with 4 enslaved people.¹⁹ And the following year, 1769 in January, James Lytton had moved again, now to Strand Street, where he was living in John Coakley’s senior’s house, still alone and with the same number enslaved people.²⁰

On 12 August 1769, James Lytton was buried by the Anglican priest at Mr. Nicholas Tuite's estate Grange, 9 Company Quarter, which Tuite acquired in 1767;²¹ Lytton was 67 years old at his death.²²

4. ii. Peter Lytton, b. c1733

5. iii. James Lytton, b. c1735

6. iv. a daughter, b. c1738

7. v. Luch/Luke Henry Lytton, b. 9 February 1742, d. 10 September 1742

8. vi. Anna Lytton, b. 23 August 1743

9. vii. Josia Lytton, b. 20 November 1745, baptized 21 November 1745,²⁴ d. late 1740s²⁵

10. viii. Elisabeth Lytton, b. 13 August 1747, baptized 4 September 1747,²⁶ d. 1740s²⁷

They emigrated from Nevis in about 1737 to St. Croix. ²⁹

On 24 May 1738, he purchased property on St. Croix, namely Company Quarter 4, later called “Golden Rock”. ³⁰

She was dead by 28 August 1741.³¹

He died on St. Kitts in the fall of 1744. ³²
3. John Faucett Lytton was born in about 1730, probably on Nevis.

On 4 September 1747, he stood as a witness at the baptism of his sister, Elizabeth.³³

He was married on about 8 April 1760, to the widow, Elizabeth Ewant. It was her third marriage.

He wrote a will on 7 April 1761, and it received a royal confirmation on 17 September 1762.³⁴

Shortly after his marriage, Peter Lytton went into partnership with Robert Glower as merchants in Christiansted. But it did not last long, as the partnership was ended at least by 1 July 1764.³⁵

On 24 September 1765, Elisabeth died, 65 years old. She was buried at Grange, the family homestead, even though the property had been sold, this was part of the agreement.³⁶ [No she was buried at Mr. McEvoy's on the southside, and she was listed as 69 years old, thus born in about 1696. One wonders if she was not either a sister to James Lytton, Sr., or a sister-in-law. The age differential between Peter and Elizabeth's birth dates is extreme.]

After his wife's death, Peter Lytton, on 5 June 1766, sold his estates to John and Mathew Meyer, and moved to Christiansted. Then on the 14 July 1766, he had recorded in the court that he intended to travel to Europe. He returned during 1767.³⁷

In February 1768, Rachel Levien, born Faucett, and his mother's sister, died on St. Croix and left behind, two young sons who were under age, namely James and Alexander Hamilton. They were under the legal care of their uncle, Peter Lytton. James was under contract as an apprentice to the aged carpenter, Thomas MacNobeny, in Christiansted.³⁸ Alexander had been placed as early as 1766, in the business run by Beckman and Cruger.³⁹

On 8 April 1768, Peter Lytton announced that in six weeks from this date he was going to leave the island, and he called in all of his creditors.⁴⁰

In January 1769, he was living by himself, with one enslaved child at 43 King’s Street, Christiansted.⁴¹

On 16 July 1769, he was found dead, lying on his bed in his room. He was either stuck or shot in the head. He had not written a new will since the one written with his wife Elizabeth. Among his papers there was a grant of freedom to his slave woman, Ledja, and her two year old mulatto son, Don Alvarez de Valesco, along with stipendia. Of course, there was nothing left to his two guardians, the Hamilton boys. However, it did not matter, because it was a suicide, and thus the settling of the estate was to be undertaken by the King and not by the probate court. [ref.?]

Peter Lytton's father protested the matter and as the only heir, asked that the estate be given to him. On the 7th August 1769, he himself wrote a new will. And on the 10th of August 1768 [?], he wrote a request to the King asking that the law be dispensed with. The King agreed on 15 August 1771, but by then, James Lytton was dead.⁴²
5. James Lytton, junior, was born in about 1735.

In about 1759, he was married to Jane Williams, born 1 February 1745, and was baptized on “Dom Judica v. 5te Søndag i Faste” in the St. Croix Lutheran Church,⁴³ daughter of planter John Williams and his wife Lea.⁴⁴

She died on 8 June 1761, and was buried the next day at the East End, of St. Croix, aged 16 years.⁴⁵

He was remarried by the Anglican Minister at Peter Lytton's place, on St. Croix, on 1 October 1763, to Christiana Huggins.⁴⁶

In September 1762, he formed a company with Robert Holliday, to engage as merchants and bankers.⁴⁷ But the business did not go well. There was a loss with James Lytton, Jr's., brother in law, John Kirwan Venton and probably other losses, which made them insolvent.

Thus, on a dark Christmas night in 1764 [the date is not correct, see below SH, it was probably in about September], James and Christiana (Huggins) Lytton went on board the elder Lytton's schooner, James and Ann, along with his brother Peter Lytton, and they took most of his first wife's estate's slaves, leaving his son, John Williams Lytton, with his grandmother, Lea Williams, and they sailed first to Nevis and from there to Dutch St. Maarten. From there Peter Lytton and Christiana (Huggins) Lytton returned to St. Croix, while James Lytton, junior, sailed onward to Carolina, where his father also had properties. After a few years, Christiana joined him, and they settled in the Bay of Honduras. At that time there were already several English colonists residing at that place. It was there that the eldest two children with Christiana were born.⁴⁸

This flight caused considerable consternation in the colony, and on 20 November 1764, the Governor, v. Prøck, wrote to the Rentekammer in Copenhagen about the matter.⁴⁹

In May 1770, James Lytton, jr. and his family returned from Honduras.⁵⁰ In 1776, after the death of the executor of James Lytton Senior's estate, Thomas Lillie, James junior took over management of the estates, which had been returned by the purchaser, and at an auction held for the estate on 31 October 1777, James junior purchased the estates. He sold them almost immediately, on 11 September 1780, to John James and Anthony Johnson of St. Kitts. In exchange, he took over John James' earlier property, the two St. James islands east of St. Thomas. Here, James junior lived until his death in 1801.⁵¹

In 1790, David and Sarah Beckman left a legacy to Christiana (Huggins) Lytton.⁵²
Child of James and Jane (Williams) Lytton:
11. i. John Williams Lytton, b. 21 January 1760

Children of James and Christiana (Huggins) Lytton:?

12. i. James Lytton, b. c1766, d. 1777

13. ii. Unknown Lytton [possibly: John Williams Lytton]

14. iii. Sarah Lytton, b. 1772

15. iv. Mary Lytton, b. 8 October 1776

16. v. Jane Williams Lytton, b. 26 May 1778

17. vi. James David Lytton, b. 8 June 1780

18. vii. Mary Lytton, b. 12 January 1782

Unknown children - David Beckman was appointed guardian for these children.⁵³
6. Lytton, the eldest daughter, married probably in 1753, a Christiansted merchant named Thomas Hallwood.⁵⁴ He was dead by the end of 1754.⁵⁵

She was married again on 28 July 1756, in the Lutheran Church.⁵⁶

In 1759, she was married to the merchant, John Kirwan Venton in Christiansted.⁶⁰

In 1763, he went bankrupt, and he and his wife fled to New York.⁶¹

At the beginning of 1770, she returned to St. Croix, after the death of her father, and moved into his house in Christiansted. [see more detail in John Kirwan Venton’s file]

Apparently she was not on good relations with her husband, as he established himself in Frederiksted.⁶²

As the settlement of her father's estate began to drag out, Ann Lytton decided to return to New York. Her husband tried to prevent it, but she went in any case, and she was in New York by May 1773.⁶³

While on St. Croix, she established a friendship with her much younger cousin, Alexander Hamilton, which remained for life. He later helped her when her means were slim, but in the meantime, he became her middleman in the transactions of her father's estate, and in fact had a power of attorney from her.⁶⁴ However, he had submitted the last bill for her on 3 June 1773, when Hamilton himself left for the New York. [check ref.]

In the meantime, Ann Lytton Venton and her daughter moved to Philadelphia, after her husband, John Kirwan Venton died in Frederiksted, and an announcement of his estate occurred on 2 November 1776.⁶⁵

At the end of 1779, she returned to St. Croix, at the urging of her brother, in order to try to have the estate settled. She pleaded with the probate manager, James Towers, of her needs, but he replied that he could not move any faster.⁶⁶

Then on 24 July 1780, she married George Mitchell, a Tavern Keeper or Guest House Keeper in Christiansted, ⁶⁷ and they made out a prenuptial agreement that they should not be responsible for each other's debts which they had prior to their marriage, and that she would receive their whole joint estate if he died before her.⁶⁸

By 1781, George Mitchell was bankrupt, and so he left the island, writing the probate court from Tortola, on 12 March 1781. On 23 March 1781, his bankruptcy was registered and on the 4th of April, a proclamation was made.⁶⁹ He remained for awhile on Tortola, and seems to have gotten Ann and her daughter to join him. From there they traveled to North America, and they settled in a little town, Burlington, New Jersey. From there they both sent powers of attorney to the Priest, Dr. Hugh Knox, for their interests in the probated estates.⁷⁰
9. Josia Lytton was born in the evening of 20 November 1745, and was baptized at home because of illness on 21 November 1745 by the Danish Lutheran Pastor.⁷¹ The witnesses at the baptism were William Hoggens/Huggins and Joseph Hoggens/Huggins, Maria/Mary (Uppington) Faucett and Elizabeth Hoggens/Huggins.⁷²

He died sometime in the last half of the 1740s.⁷³

His guardian was Nicolas Cruger.⁷⁶

From 1772-1775 he lived at 16 Eastend B Quarter.⁷⁷

He was an heir along with Edmund Shoy and his wife Elizabeth Shoy of the estate of Mrs. Leah Williams, and as there was a dispute concerning the settlement of the estate, they all agreed to let Nicholas Cruger and William Glass be the arbiters, obligating themselves to agree to the arbiters decision on the penalty of 500 pieces of eight, dated 21 September 1781.⁷⁸ The decision of the arbiters was made on 26 September 1781. ⁷⁹

On 23 September 1788, he received permission from the Danish West Indian government to take with him to Tortola, 11 enslaved people valued at Ps. 1990, with the intention of returning them, and if not to pay the normal assessed fines.⁸⁰

A probate case was begun on 16 November 1797 concerning him, as "undvigt" [escaped?].⁸¹

He was buried by the Anglican Priest at Mr. Tuite's, Grange estate, 9 Company Quarter, on 10 January 1777.⁸⁴

On 10 November 1807, he received his medical degree from New York. ⁹⁴

In 1816, he was living at estate Blessing, practicing medicine with Dr. Christopher Johnson, and serving about 3500 blacks in the countryside.⁹⁵
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James Lytton and a domestic arrived in Christiansted on 18 April 1819, from St. Thomas, ⁹⁶ and the following day, 19 April 1819, departed with his domestic back to St. Thomas. ⁹⁷
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Anna Lucretia Lytton was married to an Unknown Schifler.⁹⁸

Upon his death she was married at estate Hope, by the Pastor of the Danish Lutheran Church, on 17 April 1819, to Christian Töger Carl Wormskjold, who was an Auditor and Advocatus Regius.⁹⁹